Calendar auction system and method

ABSTRACT

The present invention facilitates a calendar auction over a computerized network wherein consumers of professional services may bid on calendar timeslots for needed professional services. A provider creates an account and manages an online calendar to facilitate actions for defined timeslots. A consumer also creates an account and manages an online calendar to solicit calendar auctions for specific needed professional services over defined times-lots. Both provider and consumer manage their calendar auction accounts and calendar over a computerized network such as the internet.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to the management and deliveryof intellectual capital and professional services by auctioningpre-defined timeslots for those services, and more particularly, to asystem and method which allows a consumer of intellectual capital andprofessional services to facilitate bids within an online calendarauction.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

Traditional auctions have been a tool of commerce for many years and theadvantages of auctions are well known. Auctions are arguably the purestform of market driven commerce in a trade based economy. While allowinga provider an opportunity to obtain the highest price that a market maybear for his or her goods, the consumer has an opportunity to purchasegoods at a fair price. The auction concept is simple, yet an auction hasproven to be very popular because it may result in a win-win scenariofor both providers and consumers. In an auction environment, one whowishes to trade goods for monetary value, simply solicits bids fromthose who wish to engage in trade for goods. When the bidding process iscomplete, either after expiration of a predetermined time or whenbidding has ceased, the person offering the highest bid wins theopportunity to complete the trade transaction.

Since the advent of the world-wide web, auctions have expanded into alevel of technology and complexity, but the concept has remained largelythe same as the traditional auction. However, auctions are now no longerbound by geography and anyone who wishes to participate may do so withvery little experience or knowledge. Online auctions have also become aprofitable alternative to the limited distribution of a garage sale.

In the early years of online auctions, auction sites such as eBay®centered its business on consumers wishing to conduct business withother consumers (C2C). Later, on-line auctions began to appeal tobusiness owners as an efficient and low cost system and/or method tomarket their products and move inventory to consumers (B2C). Morerecently, businesses seeking to conduct commerce with other businesses(B2B) are utilizing auction sites, such as eBay®, to participate inauctions for items ranging from office furniture to computing equipment.However, auctions are still being used simply as an ad hoc means ofmoving assets. As such, a strong need exists to provide an ongoingsystem and method for the management, scheduling and pricing ofprofessional services.

Traditionally, auctions have been structured for trade of material goodsfor a currency value. In recent years, however, online auctions haveevolved to serve a number of different markets. Reverse auctions, forexample, allow suppliers of goods or services to bid on contracts. Also,online auctions accepting bids utilizing various forms of payment (e.g.,loyalty points, frequent flyer miles), and even barter agreements arebecoming more prevalent.

While most online auctions today remain primarily targeted toward goods,the service industries are increasingly discovering the value of onlineauctions. Consumers are increasingly being invited to participate inauctions for vacations, airfare, hotels, golf packages, and the like.Priceline.com®, for example, has helped change the travel industry byoffering travelers an opportunity to purchase airfare, hotelreservations, car rentals, etc. at the lowest possible price or a price“selected” by the traveler. However, the Priceline.com model differsfrom an auction model in that, while it allows the consumer to place anoffer or bid, consumers are not directly competing against otherconsumers as in a true auction environment.

In addition, while conventional auctions have been adapted for businessto business auction transactions, the service based industries have onlyrecently entered the business to consumer market in the form of onlineauctions. For the most part, businesses with markets residing primarilyor exclusively with other businesses, remain confined to conventionalservicing. Conventional servicing often relies on manual administration,or perhaps voice response, for scheduling administration. Conventionalcost structure management often relies on market analysis, which istypically more expensive and slower. However, conventional services donot typically allow automatic online scheduling and pricing ofprofessional services with built in demand forecasting and revenuemanagement. Moreover, any existing scheduling processes are notsufficiently automated, and are expensive to administer.

Because of the growing acceptance and even preference toward auctionbased commerce, a need exists for a practical and efficient way forservice based industries to offer professional services for auction.Moreover, market fluctuations over very short durations make itdifficult for the service industry to assess the market for the purposeof structuring professional service offerings and fees. As such, a needexists for rapidly assessing and structuring professional service fees.A calendar auction system would produce advantages to both the providerand consumer in that professional services are usually needed duringvarying durations of time because demand for such services can besporadic and unpredictable. As a result, a provider at times mayexperience periods of low demand, while at other times, may havedifficulty staffing projects during periods of very high demand. Also,as a result of market fluctuations, consumers may find it difficult tolocate professional services during peaks in demand. Therefore, not onlywould an auction provide an opportunity to obtain the highest possiblerate for such services, but would prove to be an invaluable analysistool in determining market demand and pricing structures.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

The present invention overcomes the limitations and problems of theprior art by providing a system and method for conducting an onlinecalendar auction. The system may facilitate a calendar auction betweenat least one consumer and at least one provider by, for example, postingan available service, wherein the service includes an available timesloton the provider calendar when the service is offered to be performed;receiving at least one bid for the service, wherein the bid is based atleast in part upon the service and the available timeslot; selecting thebid as a winning bid; and, notifying the consumer and the provider ofthe winning bid.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

A more complete understanding of the present invention may be derived byreferring to the detailed description and claims when considered inconnection with the Figures, wherein like reference numbers refer tosimilar elements throughout the Figures, and:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the major system components for acalendar auction within an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method for a providerto register its company to begin offering professional services forauction;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method for a providerto securely login to the auction system to manage account details,auction rules and auction calendar;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating a detailed view of an exemplaryrules management process;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating a detailed view of an exemplaryaccount management process of the auction system;

FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating a detailed view of an exemplaryrules management process of the auction system wherein auctions aredefined and scheduled;

FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method for a consumerto register to begin participating in professional services auctions;

FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method for a consumerto securely login to the auction system to manage account details andthe auction calendar;

FIG. 9 is a flow chart illustrating a detailed view of exemplaryconsumer account management and calendar management processes of theauction system; and,

FIG. 10 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary auction processwherein auctions are defined and scheduled.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The detailed description of exemplary embodiments of the inventionherein makes reference to the accompanying drawings, which show theexemplary embodiment by way of illustration and its best mode. Whilethese exemplary embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enablethose skilled in the art to practice the invention, it should beunderstood that other embodiments may be realized and that logical andmechanical changes may be made without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention. Thus, the detailed description herein ispresented for purposes of illustration only and not of limitation.

In general, the invention includes a system and method for facilitatingan online auction. The invention enables a consumer 100 to participatein an auction for services, wherein the services may be offered by aprovider 105. A provider 105 of such services may participate with acalendar auction by offering services for auction which may be scheduledin calendar timeslots. In one embodiment, with reference to FIG. 1, thesystem also includes one or more account manager 165, auction system 120and payment gateway 180. Auction system 120 may include, in oneembodiment, one or more firewall 125, auction server 130, member data135, auction data 140, report generator 145 and auction middleware 150.

As will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art, the presentinvention may be embodied as a customization of an existing system, anadd-on product, upgraded software, a stand alone system (e.g., kiosk), adistributed system, a method, a data processing system, a device fordata processing, and/or a computer program product. Accordingly, thepresent invention may take the form of an entirely software embodiment,an entirely hardware embodiment, or an embodiment combining aspects ofboth software and hardware. Furthermore, the present invention may takethe form of a computer program product on a computer-readable storagemedium having computer-readable program code means embodied in thestorage medium. Any suitable computer-readable storage medium may beutilized, including hard disks, CD-ROM, optical storage devices,magnetic storage devices, and/or the like.

A service, as used herein, may include action, non-action, agreement,assistance, guidance, access, advice, coaching, physical help, mentalhelp, medical advice, legal input, financial advice, mentoring and/orthe like. The service may have a value, but a value is not required. Theservice may be provided by a provider. The service may be associatedwith goods or items of monetary value. For example, the service mayinclude advice from a corporate executive along with 100,000 frequentflyer points and the opportunity to run one of her businesses. In oneembodiment, a service may include one or more of, for example,accounting services, legal services, consulting services, counselingservices, internet access, access to computer services, coachingservices, shopping services, entertainment, experiences (e.g., spendingtime with a famous person or corporate executive), donation to acharity, Big Brother/Sister, agreement to not solicit for a time periodand/or the like.

A provider 105, as used herein, may include any individual, business,entity, government organization, software and/or hardware suitablyconfigured to offer a service. The service may be offered on the onlinecalendaring auction. The provider may be a third party who interactswith the online auction through an existing shopping gateway.

A consumer 100, as used herein, may include any individual, business,entity, software and/or hardware that desires to participate in theinvention. The consumer may facilitate a trade transaction by offeringan auction bid for a service offered by the provider for a calendartimeslot.

An account manager 165, as used herein, may include any individual,business, entity, software and/or hardware that owns or manages thecalendar auction. The account manager 165 may own or manage some or allof the hardware and software components of the calendar auction system,however this is not necessary. For example, the account manager 165 mayown or manage a calendar auction which is hosted by a third-party on acontract basis.

With continued reference to FIG. 1, the consumer 100, provider 105 andaccount manager 165 may interface with the system via any communicationprotocol, device or method discussed herein. In one embodiment, theconsumer 100, provider 105 and account manager 165 may interface withthe system via an internet browser. Consumer browser 110, providerbrowser 115 and account manager browser 170 may comprise any hardwareand/or software suitably configured to facilitate input, receipt and/orreview of any information related to auction system 120 or anyinformation discussed herein. Consumer browser, provider browser 115 andaccount manager browser 170 may include any device (e.g., personalcomputer) which communicates (in any manner discussed herein) withauction server 120 via any network discussed herein. Such browserapplications comprise Internet browsing software installed within acomputing unit or system to conduct online commerce transactions andcommunications. These computing units or systems may take the form of acomputer or set of computers, although other types of computing units orsystems may be used, including laptops, notebooks, hand held computers,set-top boxes, workstations, computer-servers, main frame computers,mini-computers, PC servers, network sets of computers, and/or the like.Practitioners will appreciate that account manager 165 may or may notinteract with the auction system through a browser application, butthrough a host terminal or the server directly. The system may alsoinclude access rights and different levels of access to differentportions of the system for different entities.

Auction server 130 may include any hardware and/or software suitablyconfigured to facilitate management of an auction, and in oneembodiment, a calendar auction. Auction server 130 may interfacedirectly or indirectly with consumer browser 110, provider browser 115,auction middleware 150, member database 135, and/or auction database140. Auction server 130 may operate as a single entity in a singlegeographic location or as separate computing components located togetheror in separate geographic locations. Further, auction server 130 may bean Internet server or may send, receive and process data via a networkboth to and from a separate Internet server. Auction server 120 may beconfigured to dispatch requests to the components behind the firewall125 which prevents direct access to the auction system 120 components.Data transmissions from the consumer browser 110, provider browser 115,and account manager browser 170 may pass through the firewall 125, andmay be processed by the auction server 130 which commits data to eitherthe member database 135 or auction database 140. For the purpose ofsimplicity, the member database 135 and auction database 140 areillustrated and described herein as two distinct databases. One skilledin the art will appreciate that the auction system 120 databases may beof any number of configurations. Further, as described in detail below,the member database 135 and the auction database 140 may be any type ofdatabase, such as relational, hierarchical, object-oriented, and/or thelike.

Member database 135 may include any hardware and/or software suitablyconfigured to facilitate storing consumer 100 and provider 105information. Consumer 100 information may include, for example, names ofa companies or individuals, street addresses, telephone numbers, emailaddresses, biographic information, credit rating, services of interest,loyalty point information, financial account information, and/or thelike. Provider 105 information may include, for example, names of acompanies or individuals, street addresses, telephone numbers, emailaddresses, biographic information, credit rating, descriptions ofservices provided, financial settlement information and/or the like.

Auction database 140 may include any hardware and/or software suitablyconfigured to facilitate storing information relating to calendarauctions. The auction information may relate to past, present or futureauctions. Auction database may store information originating with bothconsumer 100 and provider 105. Auction database 140 may include specificor general information relating to consumer 100 and/or provider 105participation in certain auctions.

Firewall 125 may include any hardware and/or software suitablyconfigured to protect auction system 120 resources from users from othernetworks and provide limited or restricted access to consumer 100,provider 105 and account manager 165. Firewall 125 may reside in varyingconfigurations including Stateful Inspection, Proxy based and PacketFiltering among others. Firewall 125 may be integrated within auctionserver 130, any other system components or may reside as a separateelement.

Report generator 145 may include any hardware and/or software suitablyconfigured to produce reports from information stored in one or moredatabases. Report generators are commercially available and known in theart. Report generator 145 may provide printed reports, web access toreports, graphs, real-time information, raw data, batch informationand/or the like. The report generator 145 may be implemented throughcommercially available hardware and/or software, through custom hardwareand/or software components, or through a combination thereof. Further,report generator 145 may reside as a standalone system within a networkauction system 120 or may be a software component installed in anauction server 130. Report generator 145 may be configured to processrequests from the provider browser 115 to query either the memberdatabase 135, auction database 140, or a combination of both. Datareceived from the query may be formatted by the report generator 145 andtransmitted to the provider browser 115. As illustrated and discussedherein, the report generator processes report requests for the providerbrowser, however practitioners will appreciate that the report generator145 may also be accessed by the account manager browser 170 and consumerbrowser 110 to facilitate providing reports to other parties.

The reports may include service information, bid information or consumerinformation. Such information may include bids received, amount of bidsreceived, distribution of bids received, identity of bidder, location ofbidder, time of bid placement, date of bid placement, or servicepricing. The reports may also facilitate the development of, orprojections related to, service pricing, marketing plans, cash flowmanagement, business capacity provisioning and resource provisioning.

Auction middleware 150 may include any hardware and/or software suitablyconfigured to facilitate communications and/or process transactionsbetween disparate computing systems. Middleware components arecommercially available and known in the art. The auction middleware 150may be implemented through commercially available hardware and/orsoftware, through custom hardware and/or software components, or througha combination thereof. Auction middleware 150 may reside in a variety ofconfigurations and may exist as a standalone system or may be a softwarecomponent residing on the auction server 130. Auction middleware may beconfigured to process transactions between the auction server 130 andprovider server 170 residing within a payment gateway 180.

Payment gateway 180 may include any hardware and/or software suitablyconfigured to settle payments with provider 105. Payment gateway 180 maydirectly or indirectly interface with auction system 120. Paymentgateway 180 may also include any known payment networks. Payments, asused herein, may include any monetary or nonmonetary form of paymentsuch as, for example, cash, transaction account, transactioninstruments, negotiable instruments, gift cards, rebates, securities,loyalty points, barter for goods or services and/or the like. In oneembodiment, payment gateway 180 includes provider server 185 andfirewall 190. Payment gateway 180 may include existing proprietarynetworks that presently accommodate transactions for credit cards, debitcards, and other types of financial/banking cards. Payment gateway 180may be an open or closed network that is assumed to be secure fromeavesdroppers. Exemplary transaction networks may include the AmericanExpress®, VisaNet® and the Veriphone® networks.

Provider server 170 may include any hardware and/or software suitablyconfigured to facilitate management payments to provider. Providerserver 170 may operate as a single entity in a single geographiclocation or as separate computing components located together or inseparate geographic locations. Further, provider server 170 may be anInternet server or may send, receive and process data via a network bothto and from a separate Internet server.

Firewall 190 may include any hardware and/or software suitablyconfigured to protect provider server 170 from users from other networksand provide limited or restricted access to consumer 100, provider 105and account manager 165. Firewall 190 may reside in varyingconfigurations including Stateful Inspection, Proxy based and PacketFiltering among others. Firewall 190 may be integrated within providerserver 170, any other system components or may reside as a separateelement.

The various system components discussed herein may include one or moreof the following: a server or other computing systems including aprocessor for processing digital data; a memory coupled to saidprocessor for storing digital data; an input digitizer coupled to theprocessor for inputting digital data; an application program stored insaid memory and accessible by said processor for directing processing ofdigital data by said processor; a display device coupled to theprocessor and memory for displaying information derived from digitaldata processed by said processor; and a plurality of databases. Variousdatabases used herein may include: user data, debt data, income data,provider data; financial institution data; and/or like data useful inthe operation of the present invention. As those skilled in the art willappreciate, user computer may include an operating system (e.g., WindowsNT, 95/98/2000, OS2, UNIX, Linux, Solaris, MacOS, etc.) as well asvarious conventional support software and drivers typically associatedwith computers. user computer can be in a home or business environmentwith access to a network. In an exemplary embodiment, access is througha network or the Internet through a commercially-available web-browsersoftware package.

As used herein, the term “network” shall include any electroniccommunications means which incorporates both hardware and softwarecomponents of such. Communication among the parties in accordance withthe present invention may be accomplished through any suitablecommunication channels, such as, for example, a telephone network, anextranet, an intranet, Internet, point of interaction device (point ofsale device, personal digital assistant, cellular phone, kiosk, etc.),online communications, off-line communications, wireless communications,transponder communications, local area network (LAN), wide area network(WAN), networked or linked devices and/or the like. Moreover, althoughthe invention is frequently described herein as being implemented withTCP/IP communications protocols, the invention may also be implementedusing IPX, Appletalk, IP-6, NetBIOS, OSI or any number of existing orfuture protocols. If the network is in the nature of a public network,such as the Internet, it may be advantageous to presume the network tobe insecure and open to eavesdroppers. Specific information related tothe protocols, standards, and application software utilized inconnection with the Internet is generally known to those skilled in theart and, as such, need not be detailed herein. See, for example, DILIPNAIK, “INTERNET STANDARDS AND PROTOCOLS” (1998); “JAVA 2 COMPLETE,”various authors, (Sybex 1999); DEBORAH RAY AND ERIC RAY, “MASTERING HTML4.0” (1997); and LOSHIN, “TCP/IP CLEARLY EXPLAINED” (1997) and DAVIDGOURLEY AND BRIAN TOTTY, “HTTP, THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE” (2002), thecontents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

The various system components may be independently, separately orcollectively suitably coupled to the network via data links whichincludes, for example, a connection to an Internet Provider (ISP) overthe local loop as is typically used in connection with standard modemcommunication, cable modem, Dish networks, ISDN, Digital Subscriber Line(DSL), or various wireless communication methods. See, e.g., GILBERTHELD, “UNDERSTANDING DATA COMMUNICATIONS” (1996), hereby incorporated byreference. It is noted that the network may be implemented as othertypes of networks, such as an interactive television (ITV) network.Moreover, the system contemplates the use, sale or distribution of anygoods, services or information over any network having similarfunctionality described herein.

Any databases discussed herein may be any type of database, such asrelational, hierarchical, graphical, object-oriented, and/or otherdatabase configurations. Common database products that may be used toimplement the databases include DB2 by IBM (White Plains, N.Y.), variousdatabase products available from Oracle Corporation (Redwood Shores,Calif.), Microsoft Access or Microsoft SQL Server by MicrosoftCorporation (Redmond, Wash.), or any other suitable database product.Moreover, the databases may be organized in any suitable manner, forexample, as data tables or lookup tables. Each record may be a singlefile, a series of files, a linked series of data fields or any otherdata structure. Association of certain data may be accomplished throughany desired data association technique such as those known or practicedin the art. For example, the association may be accomplished eithermanually or automatically. Automatic association techniques may include,for example, a database search, a database merge, GREP, AGREP, SQL,and/or the like. The association step may be accomplished by a databasemerge function, for example, using a “key field” in pre-selecteddatabases or data sectors.

More particularly, a “key field” partitions the database according tothe high-level class of objects defined by the key field. For example,certain types of data may be designated as a key field in a plurality ofrelated data tables and the data tables may then be linked on the basisof the type of data in the key field. In this regard, the datacorresponding to the key field in each of the linked data tables ispreferably the same or of the same type. However, data tables havingsimilar, though not identical, data in the key fields may also be linkedby using AGREP, for example. In accordance with one aspect of thepresent invention, any suitable data storage technique may be utilizedto store data without a standard format. Data sets may be stored usingany suitable technique, including, for example, storing individual filesusing an ISO/IEC 7816-4 file structure; implementing a domain whereby adedicated file is selected that exposes one or more elementary filescontaining one or more data sets; using data sets stored in individualfiles using a hierarchical filing system; data sets stored as records ina single file (including compression, SQL accessible, hashed via one ormore keys, numeric, alphabetical by first tuple, etc.); block of binary(BLOB); stored as ungrouped data elements encoded using ISO/IEC 7816-6data elements; stored as ungrouped data elements encoded using ISO/IECAbstract Syntax Notation (ASN.1) as in ISO/IEC 8824 and 8825; and/orother proprietary techniques that may include fractal compressionmethods, image compression methods, etc.

In one exemplary embodiment, the ability to store a wide variety ofinformation in different formats is facilitated by storing theinformation as a Block of Binary (BLOB). Thus, any binary informationcan be stored in a storage space associated with a data set. Asdiscussed above, the binary information may be stored on the financialtransaction instrument or external to but affiliated with the financialtransaction instrument. The BLOB method may store data sets as ungroupeddata elements formatted as a block of binary via a fixed memory offsetusing either fixed storage allocation, circular queue techniques, orbest practices with respect to memory management (e.g., paged memory,least recently used, etc.). By using BLOB methods, the ability to storevarious data sets that have different formats facilitates the storage ofdata associated with the financial transaction instrument by multipleand unrelated owners of the data sets. For example, a first data setwhich may be stored may be provided by a first issuer, a second data setwhich may be stored may be provided by an unrelated second issuer, andyet a third data set which may be stored, may be provided by an thirdissuer unrelated to the first and second issuer. Each of these threeexemplary data sets may contain different information that is storedusing different data storage formats and/or techniques. Further, eachdata set may contain subsets of data which also may be distinct fromother subsets.

As stated above, in various embodiments of the present invention, thedata can be stored without regard to a common format. However, in oneexemplary embodiment of the present invention, the data set (e.g., BLOB)may be annotated in a standard manner when provided for manipulating thedata onto the financial transaction instrument. The annotation maycomprise a short header, trailer, or other appropriate indicator relatedto each data set that is configured to convey information useful inmanaging the various data sets. For example, the annotation may becalled a “condition header”, “header”, “trailer”, or “status”, herein,and may comprise an indication of the status of the data set or mayinclude an identifier correlated to a specific issuer or owner of thedata. In one example, the first three bytes of each data set BLOB may beconfigured or configurable to indicate the status of that particulardata set; e.g., LOADED, INITIALIZED, READY, BLOCKED, REMOVABLE, orDELETED. Subsequent bytes of data may be used to indicate for example,the identity of the issuer, user, transaction/membership accountidentifier or the like. Each of these condition annotations are furtherdiscussed herein.

The data set annotation may also be used for other types of statusinformation as well as various other purposes. For example, the data setannotation may include security information establishing access levels.The access levels may, for example, be configured to permit only certainindividuals, levels of employees, companies, or other entities to accessdata sets, or to permit access to specific data sets based on thetransaction, provider, issuer, user or the like. Furthermore, thesecurity information may restrict/permit only certain actions such asaccessing, modifying, and/or deleting data sets. In one example, thedata set annotation indicates that only the data set owner or the userare permitted to delete a data set, various identified providers arepermitted to access the data set for reading, and others are altogetherexcluded from accessing the data set. However, other access restrictionparameters may also be used allowing various entities to access a dataset with various permission levels as appropriate.

The data, including the header or trailer may be received by a standalone interaction device configured to add, delete, modify, or augmentthe data in accordance with the header or trailer. As such, in oneembodiment, the header or trailer is not stored on the transactiondevice along with the associated issuer-owned data but instead theappropriate action may be taken by providing to the transactioninstrument user at the stand alone device, the appropriate option forthe action to be taken. The present invention may contemplate a datastorage arrangement wherein the header or trailer, or header or trailerhistory, of the data is stored on the transaction instrument in relationto the appropriate data.

The computers discussed herein may provide a suitable website or otherInternet-based graphical user interface which is accessible by users,hosts or operators of the system. In one embodiment, the MicrosoftInternet Information Server (IIS), Microsoft Transaction Server (MTS),and Microsoft SQL Server, are used in conjunction with the Microsoftoperating system, Microsoft NT web server software, a Microsoft SQLServer database system, and a Microsoft Commerce Server. Additionally,components such as Access or Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, Sybase,Informix MySQL, Intervase, etc., may be used to provide an Active DataObject (ADO) compliant database management system.

Any of the communications, inputs, storage, databases or displaysdiscussed herein may be facilitated through a website having web pages.The term “web page” as it is used herein is not meant to limit the typeof documents and applications that might be used to interact with theuser. For example, a typical website might include, in addition tostandard HTML documents, various forms, Java applets, JavaScript, activeserver pages (ASP), common gateway interface scripts (CGI), extensiblemarkup language (XML), dynamic HTML, cascading style sheets (CSS),helper applications, plug-ins, and the like. A server may include a webservice which receives a request from a web server, the requestincluding a URL (http://yahoo.com/stockquotes/ge) and an IP address(123.56.789). The web server retrieves the appropriate web pages andsends the data or applications for the web pages to the IP address. Webservices are applications which are capable of interacting with otherapplications over a communications means, such as the Internet. Webservices are typically based on standards or protocols such as XML,SOAP, WSDL and UDDI. Web services methods are well known in the art, andare covered in many standard texts. See, e.g., ALEX NGHIEM, “IT WEBSERVICES: A ROADMAP FOR THE ENTERPRISE” (2003), hereby incorporatedherein by reference.

The present invention may be described herein in terms of functionalblock components, screen shots, optional selections and variousprocessing steps. It should be appreciated that such functional blocksmay be realized by any number of hardware and/or software componentsconfigured to perform the specified functions. For example, the presentinvention may employ various integrated circuit components, e.g., memoryelements, processing elements, logic elements, look-up tables, and thelike, which may carry out a variety of functions under the control ofone or more microprocessors or other control devices. Similarly, thesoftware elements of the present invention may be implemented with anyprogramming or scripting language such as C, C++, Java, COBOL,assembler, PERL, Visual Basic, SQL Stored Procedures, extensible markuplanguage (XML), with the various algorithms being implemented with anycombination of data structures, objects, processes, routines or otherprogramming elements. Further, it should be noted that the presentinvention may employ any number of conventional techniques for datatransmission, signaling, data processing, network control, and the like.Still further, the invention could be used to detect or prevent securityissues with a client-side scripting language, such as JavaScript,VBScript or the like. For a basic introduction of cryptography andnetwork security, the following may be helpful references: (1) “AppliedCryptography: Protocols, Algorithms, And Source Code In C,” by BruceSchneier, published byjohn Wiley & Sons (second edition, 1996); (2)“Java Cryptography,” by Jonathan Knudson, published by O'Reilly &Associates (1998); (3) “Cryptography & Network Security: Principles &Practice,” by William Stalling, published by Prentice Hall; all of whichare hereby incorporated by reference.

Each provider, consumer, or application manager may be equipped with acomputing device in order to interact with the system and facilitateonline commerce transactions. The provider and consumer each have acomputing unit in the form of a personal computer, although other typesof computing units may be used including laptops, notebooks, hand heldcomputers, set-top boxes, cellular telephones, touch-tone telephones andthe like. The account manager has a computing unit implemented in theform of a computer-server, although other implementations arecontemplated by the invention. The provider has a computing center shownas a server. However, the provider computing center may be implementedin other forms, such as a mini-computer, a PC server, a network ofcomputers located in the same of different geographic locations, or thelike. Moreover, the system contemplates the use, sale or distribution ofany services or information over any network having similarfunctionality described herein.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in acomputer-readable memory that can direct a computer or otherprogrammable data processing apparatus to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readablememory produce an article of manufacture including instruction meanswhich implement the function specified in the flowchart block or blocks.The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer orother programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series ofoperational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmableapparatus to produce a computer-implemented process such that theinstructions which execute on the computer or other programmableapparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in theflowchart block or blocks.

Accordingly, functional blocks of the block diagrams and flowchartillustrations support combinations of means for performing the specifiedfunctions, combinations of steps for performing the specified functions,and program instruction means for performing the specified functions. Itwill also be understood that each functional block of the block diagramsand flowchart illustrations, and combinations of functional blocks inthe block diagrams and flowchart illustrations, can be implemented byeither special purpose hardware-based computer systems which perform thespecified functions or steps, or suitable combinations of specialpurpose hardware and computer instructions.

Referring now to FIGS. 2-10, the process flows depicted are merelyexemplary embodiments of the invention and are not intended to limit thescope of the invention as described above. For example, the stepsrecited in any of the method or process descriptions may be executed inany order and are not limited to the order presented. It will beappreciated that the following description makes appropriate referencesnot only to the steps depicted in FIGS. 2-10, but also to the varioussystem components as described above with reference to FIG. 1. Further,illustrations of the process flows and the descriptions thereof makereference to webpages, websites, web forms, prompts, etc. Practitionerswill appreciate that the illustrated steps described below may exist inany number of configurations including the use of webpages, web forms,popup windows, prompts and the like. It should be further appreciatedthat the multiple steps as illustrated and described may be combinedonto single webpages but have been expanded for the sake of simplicity.In other cases, steps illustrated and described as single process stepsmay be broken down into multiple webpages but have been combined forsimplicity.

A provider 105 may initiate the registration process through any methodsknown in the art. In one embodiment, provider 105 accesses an auctionsystem 120 and initiates the account setup process through a web browser110. The account setup process may include an auction system 120determining if provider 105 is a new user or a returning user which maybe accomplished through any method known in the art, for example, by theuse of cookies, or direct user input. For example, a provider 105 may bepresented with a temporary account setup webpage, which prompts theprovider 105 to input information concerning the provider's 105 statusas either a new or returning provider. An account manager 165 may definedata that is required to be entered by provider 105 during theregistration process. For example, an auction system 120 may not allow aprovider 105 to continue with the registration process without enteringbasic company information such as company name, address, telephonenumber, email address, etc. However, an auction system may allow theregistration process to continue if provider 105 does not complete abiography of provider's 105 service. The system may also obtain provideror consumer information from available public databases or third partysources.

Referring to FIG. 2, if it is determined that provider 105 is new to acalendar auction system, as discussed above, provider 105 may bepresented with an account setup (step 200) webpage whereby the accountsetup process may be initiated. If provider 105 chooses to initiate theaccount setup process, they may be presented a webpage containing terms(step 205) for participating in a calendar auction system. Further,provider 105 may be prompted to read the terms and provide inputindicating whether or not provider 105 accepts the terms. If provider's105 input indicates that the terms are not accepted (step 210),registration may not be continued and provider 105 may be againpresented with an account setup (step 200) webpage. However, ifprovider's 105 input indicates that the terms are accepted (step 210),then provider 105 may be presented a webpage for which to enterinformation (step 215) such as, for example, company name, address,telephone number, name of a contact, email address, companywebsite, etc.When provider 105 completes and submits company and other information(step 125), the provider information may be transmitted to the auctionsystem (step 250) where it may be stored in member database 135.

Provider 105 may also be presented a webpage and prompted to select froma list of services (step 220) that provider 105 would like to offer forcalendar auction bid. For example, if provider 105 is a CPA, he mayselect one or more specific services he is capable of delivering, suchas payroll accounting, ledger services, taxes, etc. Provider 105 mayalso provide varying levels of service based on a selected service.Varying levels of service may be appropriate based upon several factorsrelating to variants in provider's 105 personnel which may include, forexample, level of experience, education, training, certifications,memberships, etc.

In one embodiment, an auction system may be configured to automaticallydirect losing bidders and/or those placing bids below a reserve amountto offerings by the same provider 105 for lower level services. Forexample, a law firm participating in an online auction may offer acalendar timeslot for bankruptcy legal services of a senior partner witha reserve of $250.00 per hour. A consumer 100 interested in the legalservice who places a bid at $160.00 may be directed to another auctionfor bankruptcy legal services offered by the same law firm, but from anonpartner attorney with a reserve set at $150.00. The invention or anyparticipant may also distribute or redeem loyalty points during any partof the method. For example, a referral recipient may send providerloyalty points in exchange for sending the referral. In anotherembodiment, the system may award loyalty points to a provider forreferring the service to another participating provider.

Auction system 120 may additionally or alternatively allow provider 105to enter information related to their services, or auction system 120may acquire service information from provider 105 website or otherdatabase. The service offerings information may be transmitted to theauction system (step 250) where it may be stored in member database 135.

Providers 105 may then be presented a webpage to enter biographicinformation (step 225) which may include, for example, a short historyof provider's 105 company, a description of the management team, clientlist, stock symbol, balance sheet data, credit rating, etc. Thebiographic information may be transmitted to the auction system (step250) where it may be stored in member database 135.

Providers 105 may be provided a webpage where they may list one or moreproviders offering like services to their own in order to serve asreferrals (step 255) if for any reason, provider cannot deliver serviceofferings to a participating consumer. There are a number of scenarioswhere this may be beneficial to both provider 105 and consumer 100. Forexample, if a consumer 100 places a bid that falls short of a reserveamount, it may be clear that the consumer 100 cannot, or is not willingto pay the provider's bottom rate. The consumer 100 may be presentedwith one or more provider 105 referrals which may be able to offer asimilar service at a lower rate. If a referred provider is a participantin the calendar auction, consumer 100 may be directed to view calendarauction slots for that provider 105.

If provider 105 is not a calendar auction participant, then they may bealerted to a consumer's 100 interest in their service via email or anyother means of notification. Alternatively, a link to a referralswebsite may be provided in order to allow a consumer 100 to obtaininformation regarding the referral and/or contact information. Acalendar auction system may employ a means to identify a consumer 100who selects a link to a referral's website. This information may becollected and used for market analysis, crediting a provider 105 whomade the referral or for any other purpose. Practitioners willappreciate that there are a number of methods known in the art forcollecting information regarding “click-throughs” in an Internetenvironment, including the use of cookies and URL tags.

If a consumer 100 obtains a calendar slot for a referred provider 105,either by placing a winning bid or by utilizing a “buy it now” option,then referring provider 105 may receive compensation, or a “findersfee”. Additionally, a consumer 100 may view referrals for a particularprovider 105 without participating in an auction. For example, a smallflorist may have a strong preference for the accounting services of aparticipating large Fortune 500 accounting firm. It may be valuable forthe florist, knowing that her company is too small to afford theservices of the large firm, to see the accounting firm's referrals whomay include credible smaller accounting firms or independent CPA's.

When provider 105 completes input within a referral information webpage(step 255), the referral information may be transmitted to the auctionsystem (step 250) where it may be stored in member database 135.

Provider 105 may also be presented a webpage where provider 105 may beprompted to choose a user ID and/or password (step 230). The user IDand/or password may be used by the auction system 120 to verifyprovider's 105 identification prior to participation in a calendarauction system. Provider 105 may submit a username and/or passwordselection to auction system (step 250) where it may be verified (step235). If a user ID and/or password is not verified (step 240), provider105 may again be presented a choose user ID/password webpage (step 230)where provider 105 may select a different user ID and/or password. If auser ID and/or password are valid (step 240), then provider 105 may bepresented a provider home webpage (step 245).

Referring now to FIG. 3, a provider homepage (step 300) may presentprovider 105 with various calendar auction related information. Forexample, in various embodiments, provider homepage (step 300) maypresent provider 105 with industry news and/or general auctionstatistics relating to the industry of provider 105. In an exemplaryembodiment, auction system 120 may provide a central location whereprovider 105 may manage several aspects of a calendar auction account.To initiate auction account management functions, provider 105 mayaccess a provider homepage (step 300). If provider 105 chooses to viewand/or modify provider options (step 320), provider 105 may be promptedto enter a user ID and/or password (step 305). Once the user ID and/orpassword is entered, it may be transmitted to the auction system (step345) to be authenticated. If the provider 105 is properly authenticated(step 315), provider 105 may be granted access to a provider optionswebpage. A provider 105 who is not properly authenticated, eitherthrough user error or because of unauthorized use, is not permittedfurther access to provider options (step 320) and may be again prompted(step 305) to enter a user ID and/or password. Practitioners willappreciate that many additional security measures may be employed inaccordance with the login and authentication systems and methodsdescribed herein.

The provider options webpage (step 320) may contain links directedtoward other webpages for managing various aspects of a calendar auctionaccount. Calendar auction options which may be configured by provider105 may include, rules management (step 325), account management (Step330), calendar management (step 335) and reports management (step 340),each being described in greater detail below.

A rules management webpage (step 325) may be accessed by provider 105 toconfigure rules specific to a calendar auction. Such rules may bedefined by provider 105 in advance of an auction in order to moreclosely control the nature of the auction. Such rules may include, forexample, setting durations for auctions, setting reserve amounts for oneor more service offerings, conditions for providing referrals, definingconsumer 100 criteria requirements for participating in provider's 105auctions and setting a price for one or more service offerings for whichprovider 105 may accept should a consumer decide to purchase a calendartimeslot and thus bypass the bidding process. The rules management (step325) process will be described in greater detail below with thediscussion of FIG. 4.

An account management webpage (step 330) may be accessed by provider 105to add and/or modify company specific information as submitted duringthe registration process as illustrated in FIG. 2. Specifically,provider 105 may add and/or modify company and contact information asentered (215 in FIG. 2). Such information may include company name,contact name, street address, telephone number, email address, websiteaddress, and the like. Account management (step 330) may also be used toadd and/or modify provider's (105) service offerings and servicedescriptions, as entered (220 in FIG. 2) and biographical information asentered (225 in FIG. 2). The account management process will bedescribed in greater detail below with a discussion of FIG. 5.

A calendar management webpage (step 335) may be accessed by provider 105to facilitate one or more calendar auctions for provider's service(s).Provider 105 may access a calendar covering any time period as definedby an auction account manager 165. In one embodiment, a provider 105 mayaccess a calendar for a particular month by selecting the month from alist, however practitioners will appreciate that that various otheroptions may be provided for displaying calendars or elements of time.Provider 105 may also provide information to the calendar managementwebpage by downloading information from an electronic calendar orpersonal digital assistant. Calendar management may allow provider 105,for example, to view scheduled auctions, schedule calendar auctions totake place at a determined date and time, define auction durations,configure reoccurring auctions, cancel scheduled auctions, etc. Thecalendar management process will be described in greater detail belowwith a discussion of FIG. 6.

A reports management webpage (step 340) may be accessed by provider 105to view reports based on auction history. In an exemplary embodiment,the auction system 120 may provide standard and/or custom reports whichmay equip provider 105 with an analysis tool for determining and/orexecuting strategic decisions. For example, a financial consultantoffering her services for a calendar auction on a regular basis maychoose to view a report showing details for all winning bids. From heranalysis of the report information, the financial consultant maydetermine that the volume of bids as well as the high bid amount forfinancial consulting services is significantly higher in the last weekof each month. With this information, the financial consultant maychoose to auction more calendar time during the last week of each month.

Reports generated from a reports management webpage (step 340) may alsoshow a provider 105 what types of consumers 100 are bidding for theirservices and/or related providers services. Demographic data such as,for example, consumer 100 information, bid amounts, trends in biddingactivity and the like, may be a valuable tool to assist provider 105 indeveloping a marketing and pricing strategy. For example, a provider whohas set a “buy it now” price at $180 per hour for a service, maydiscover that winning bids for comparable services from other providersare averaging $120 per hour. This information combined with other reportdata may make it clear that the provider is over-pricing his services.Further, a report may provide a listing of all consumers 100 who haveparticipated in an auction for a particular service type. This may beutilized by a provider 105 for business development and marketing tasks.

While not illustrated herein, a practitioner will appreciate thatvarious tools and methods may be employed to compile, display, print andstore reports as described above and within the context of a calendarauction system. Further, it will be appreciated that reports management(step 340) may be carried out through a number commercially availablereport generators, through custom software and/or hardware components,or through a combination of both. Still further, it should beappreciated that reports may be generated from any combination of datastored on any combination of databases, files, stored procedures and thelike.

FIG. 4 is a detailed illustration of the rules management process asbriefly described above in reference to FIG. 3. When provider 105 with acalendar auction account accesses the system, provider 105 may configurerules pertaining to an auction of provider's 105 services. Apractitioner will appreciate that while not illustrated in FIG. 4, rulesmay be configured to apply universally to all of provider's 105 serviceauctions. However, as discussed herein, rules may be configured for eachservice individually, if desired. For example, provider 105 offering twodistinct services, Service A and Service B, may choose to set thereserve amount for Service A to $85.00 per hour while setting thereserve for Service B to $110.00 per hour. To configure calendar auctionrules, provider 105 may access a rules management webpage (step 400)following authentication as described above. From a rules managementwebpage (step 400), provider 105 may choose to view a service offering(step 405) as previously defined (220 in FIG. 2) and stored within theauction system (step 435). From a service offerings webpage (step 405),provider 105 may be prompted to select a service offering to view (step410) and then prompted to select a specific rule to configure withregard to the selected service offering.

If provider's 105 input from the select service offering webpage (step410) indicates a desire to define and/or modify a reserve, then provider105 may be presented a webpage from which a reserve may be definedand/or modified (step 415). As in any of the management functions, theauction server (step 435) may be queried to obtain any previous valuesin order to allow provider to view previously defined rules. Forexample, provider 105 may have previously set a reserve amount forService A to $90.00 per hour. When provider 105 accesses thedefine/modify reserve webpage (step 415), the webpage may display thepreviously set reserve amount ($90.00). If a reserve had not beenpreviously set, the reserve amount may be displayed as $0.00. Provider105 may change the reserve amount by entering a new reserve amountwithin a define/modify reserve webpage (step 415) and submitting theinformation to the auction system (step 435) where it may be storedwithin a member database 135.

If provider's 105 input from the select service offering webpage (step410) indicates a desire to define and/or modify a base purchase price,then provider 105 may be presented a webpage from which a base purchaseprice may be defined and/or modified (step 420). A base purchase pricemay be any amount that provider 105 determines acceptable, should aconsumer 100 during an auction choose to bypass the bidding process andpurchase the service (“buy it now”), thus canceling the auction.Participation in a calendar auction with a base purchase price may beoptional, therefore provider 105 may be prompted to indicate whether ornot to implement a base purchase price. A provider 105 who wishes to seta base purchase price, may enter a desired amount in a webpage field andsubmit the information to the auction system (step 435) where it may bestored within a member database 135.

If provider's 105 input from the select service offering webpage (step410) indicates a desire to define and/or modify consumer criteria, thenprovider 105 may be presented a webpage from which consumer criteria maybe defined and/or modified (step 425). Consumer criteria would enableprovider 105 to define who may or may not place bids on provider's 105service(s) during calendar auction. For example, a provider 105 maychoose to limit bid participation to consumers 100 with high creditratings. Criteria used to define acceptable consumers 100 may not belimited only to information required by a consumer 100 during theconsumer registration process as illustrated in FIG. 7. For example,while not illustrated, auction server 120 may initiate contact with anythird party system such as one or more credit bureaus in order to obtainconsumer's 100 credit rating and then store credit information to anauction system's 120 member database 140. Defined and/or modifiedconsumer criteria may be submitted to the auction server (step 435)where it may be stored within a member database 135.

If provider's 105 input from the select service offering webpage (step410) indicates a desire to define and/or modify auction duration, thenprovider 105 may be presented a webpage from which auction duration maybe defined and/or modified (step 415). In an embodiment of theinvention, duration may be defined in time. For example, a provider 105may choose set an auction for Service A to last for 48 hours. At whichtime, the auction would close and the highest bidder, if applicable,would be awarded the calendar auction service. In another embodiment ofthe invention, provider 105 may choose to end an auction upon receivinga predetermined number of bids. In yet another embodiment, provider 105may choose to end an auction when a bid of a determined amount has beenobtained. Additions and/or changes to auction duration defined by aprovider 105 may be submitted to the auction server (step 435) where itmay be stored within a member database 135.

If provider's 105 input from the select service offering webpage (step410) indicates a desire to define and/or modify referrals, then provider105 may be presented a webpage from which referrals may be definedand/or modified (step 440). At any time, a provider 105 may opt-in orout of a referral program as well as add, modify, or delete referrals.Referrals may be participants in a calendar auction system, however thisis not necessary. Participating providers 105 may be listed within adefine and/or modify referral webpage (step 440) from which provider 105may select one or more to serve as their referral(s). If a referral isnot a participant in a calendar auction system, then a define and/ormodify referral webpage may offer text fields where provider 105 mayenter information such as Name of provider, address, telephone, emailaddress, website address, contact name, relationship with provider,types of services offered, etc.

In an embodiment of the invention, a provider may additionally viewother referral program details such as, for example, a rewards orfinder-fee account balance, transactions which have occurred based onprovider's 105 referral, and the like. Alternatively, this informationmay be included and accessible from a reports management (FIG. 3, step340) webpage.

Additions and/or changes to provider's 105 referrals defined by aprovider 105 may be submitted to the auction server (step 435) where itmay be stored within a member database 135.

Practitioners will appreciate that changes in auction rules as describedabove, and with reference to FIG. 4, may not effect auctions inprogress, but would be applicable to any scheduled auctions which havenot yet opened to accept bids. However, in another embodiment, thesystem may allow rules and settings to apply at the time they arechanged.

FIG. 5 is a detailed illustration of an exemplary account managementprocess as briefly described above in reference to FIG. 3. When aprovider 105 with a calendar auction account accesses the calendarauction system, provider 105 may add and/or modify calendar auctionaccount information originally entered during the registration process(215 in FIG. 2). For example, a provider 105 who wishes to change themain contact name, may initiate the modification from an accountmanagement webpage (step 500). It should be appreciated that provider105 may be prevented from modifying certain types of account databecause certain data modifications may be a function of an accountmanager 165.

To define or modify account details, provider 105 may access the accountmanagement webpage (step 500) following authentication as describedabove. From an account management webpage (step 500), provider 105 maychoose to view account details (step 505) as previously defined byprovider 105 (215 in FIG. 2) and stored in an auction system (step 535)member database 135. From an account details webpage (step 505),provider 105 may be prompted to select a class of account information tomodify (step 510). According to an embodiment of the invention, accountinformation may be grouped within three classes, contact data, companybiography, and service offerings and descriptions. It should beappreciated that the classes as illustrated and described herein havebeen grouped for simplicity only. Practitioners will appreciate that theaccount information as described herein is not intended to be exhaustiveand may be arranged within any number of classes.

If provider's 105 input from the select details webpage (step 510)indicates a desire to add or modify company and/or contact data,provider 105 may be presented a webpage (step 515) displaying companyand/or contact data as it exists within the auction server (step 535).Provider 105 may modify the information within the webpage (step 515)and submit the information along with any changes to the auction server(step 535) where it may be stored within a member database 135.

If provider's 105 input from the select details webpage (step 510)indicates a desire to add and/or modify biographic information, theprovider 105 may be presented a webpage (step 520) displaying biographicdata as it exists within the auction server (step 535). Provider 105 maymodify the biographic information within the webpage (step 520) andsubmit the information with any changes to the auction server (step 435)where it may be stored within a member database 135.

If provider's 105 input from the select details webpage (step 510)indicates a desire to add and/or modify service offerings anddescriptions, provider 105 may be presented a webpage (step 525)displaying service offerings as they exist within the auction server(step 535). In an embodiment, provider 105 may offer varying typesand/or levels of service, therefore the auction system may allow for oneor more services to be defined and managed. Provider 105 may use awebpage to modify service offerings (step 525) or to define additionalservices at any time. Provider 105 may add and/or modify serviceofferings information within a webpage (step 525) and submit theinformation along with any changes to the auction server (step 535)where it may be stored within a member database 135.

If provider's 105 input from the select details webpage (step 510)indicates a desire to close provider's 105 calendar auction account,provider 105 may be presented a webpage (step 530) to confirm provider's105 intentions to no longer participate in a calendar auction system. Inan embodiment of the invention, the close account webpage (step 530) mayrequest additional information from provider 105 such as, for example,information to ascertain why provider 105 is closing a calendar auctionaccount. When provider 105 submits the close account (step 530)information to the auction server (step 535), data pertaining toprovider may be flagged or eliminated from any databases residing withinan auction system 120.

FIG. 6 is a detailed illustration of an exemplary calendar managementprocess as briefly described above in reference to FIG. 3. When provider105 with a calendar auction account accesses the calendar auctionsystem, provider 105 may setup and maintain a calendar in order tofacilitate calendar auctions. In an embodiment of the invention, thecalendar serves as the mechanism by which auctions for a provider's 105services are scheduled. To manage a calendar, provider 105 may access acalendar management webpage (step 600) following authentication asdescribed above. The calendar management webpage (step 600) may includesnapshot information relevant to a provider 105 such as, for example,the status of in progress auctions, listed dates for upcoming auctions,warnings regarding scheduling conflicts, and the like.

In an embodiment of the invention, provider 105 may maintain two or moreseparate calendars. A calendar management webpage (step 600) may includea selector from which provider 105 may indicate which auction accountcalendar to view and/or modify. For example, provider 105 may be anowner of two or more business entities which fall under a parentcompany. Rather than create entirely different calendar auction accountsfor each company, it may be advantageous to allow provider 105 to managecalendar auctions for each entity within one primary account.

When provider 105 selects a calendar to manage from a calendarmanagement webpage (step 600), provider 105 may be presented a webpagedisplaying the selected calendar (step 605) populated with data from theauction system (step 675). As discussed previously, a calendar may bedisplayed in any number of configurations. It should be noted however,that an embodiment of the invention would allow provider 105 to define apreferred calendar view. For example, one provider 105 may prefer toview a calendar in weekly increments, while another provider 105 mayprefer to view a calendar in increments of one month. While yet anotherprovider 105, may prefer a calendar that displays all twelve months.

Aside from specific calendar configurations, sequences of time whereprovider 105 has scheduled auctions may be displayed in a manner as tocommunicate times of auction activity. For example, provider's 105calendar (step 605) may reflect future auction dates by employing amethod of color coding by which scheduled auction days would stand outfrom days of non-activity. The same may apply to auctions which are inprogress. Other configuration are contemplated, such as displayingauction details on a calendar (step 605), for example, auction name,service offering, start time(s), end time(s), current high bid(s) forauctions in progress, etc.

In another embodiment, a calendar (step 605) may allow provider 105 toview demand for various service offerings. Consumer 100 may use acalendar, as will be discussed below, to express interest in a serviceor services during certain date/timeslots. The provider's 105 calendarmay reflect the demand of any number of consumers, thereby allowingprovider 105 to tailor service offerings and schedule auctions to bestfit consumer demand as indicated on provider's 105 auction calendar. Thesystem may automatically match openings in provider 105 and consumer 100calendars and suggest possible availabilities.

From the auction calendar (step 605), provider 105 may select a dateand/or timeslot to view in greater detail (step 615). Date/timeslotdetail presents provider 105 a precise view of a selected date and/ortimeslot. This view may include details regarding scheduled or inprogress auctions such as, for example, description of service forauction, auction start time, end time, current high bid and the like. Adate/timeslot view of a calendar, may provide options to allow provider105 to schedule auctions, modify scheduled auctions and/or cancelscheduled auctions.

If provider 105 wishes to cancel a prescheduled auction, provider 105may select the scheduled auctions date/timeslot (step 610) and selectthe scheduled auction from the show date/timeslot webpage (step 615).Provider 105 may then indicate that the scheduled auction should becanceled (step 620). Provider 105 may then be prompted or presented witha conformation webpage from which provider may be asked to confirm thecancellation (step 630). If provider 105 confirms the cancellation, thenprovider 105 may again be presented with a show calendar webpage (step605) and the cancellation may be transmitted to the auction system (step675) where the information relating to the scheduled auction may beremoved from an auction database 140. If provider 105 does not confirmthe cancellation, then provider 105 may again be presented with a selectdate/timeslot webpage (step 610) and the auction may remain scheduled.

If provider's 105 input from the date/timeslot view webpage (step 615)indicates a desire to schedule an auction or modify a previouslyscheduled auction, provider 105 may be presented a webpage and promptedto select a service (step 635) to offer for auction. Services may bedisplayed based on the services previously defined either during theregistration phase (220, FIG. 2) or during the account management phase(525, FIG. 5). Services may be displayed on a service offerings webpage(step 635) as a list, a menu, group of check boxes, or by any number ofmethods known in the art. If provider 105 selects a service offeringfrom the select service offering webpage (step 635), provider 105 may bepresented a webpage or prompted to enter an auction duration (step 640).Provider 105 may choose to not change the displayed duration, whichwould be the default duration configured during the rules managementprocess (430, FIG. 4). However, provider 105 may choose to enter a newauction duration (step 640) which would apply only to the auction beingscheduled or modified.

Provider 105 may be prompted on whether or not the scheduled auctionshould be a reoccurring auction (step 645). In other words, provider 105may desire to have the auction system 120 schedule the same auctionrepetitively over defined sequences. For example, a provider of legalservices may choose to offer a service every other Thursday over aperiod of two months. If provider 105 selects to schedule an auction ona reoccurring basis (step 645), provider 105 may be presented with awebpage to define the reoccurrence schedule and duration (step 650).

Whether or not provider 105 schedules a reoccurring auction, provider105 may be prompted to indicate whether or not they would like to definea flex schedule (step 655). If provider 105 chooses to define a flexschedule, then they may be presented a webpage enabling provider 105 todefine a flex schedule (step 660) if desired. A flex schedule may enablea consumer 100 to purchase an approximate calendar timeslot at a lowerrate and allowing provider 105 a certain amount of flexibility in whenthe service is delivered. For example, knowing that the volume ofpatients on any given day is difficult to predict, a provider 105offering dental services may choose to offer a discount rate in exchangefor scheduling flexibility. As a result, a consumer 105 who is viewingthe dentist's auction may be given a visual alert indicating that thisprovider offers a flex discount to “buy it now” consumers 100. Consumers100 who purchase an approximate timeslot within a predefined window(i.e. between 10:00 AM and 4:00 PM) may be notified by a provider 105 ofan appointment at any time during a period starting with a purchase, andending just prior to the appointment.

Whether or not provider defined a flex schedule, provider 105 may bepresented a confirmation webpage (step 645) which may provide a summaryof the auction as defined it in the proceeding steps. Provider 105 maybe prompted to accept or cancel the pending auction. If provider 105cancels the pending scheduled auction (step 650), provider 105 may againbe presented with the select date/timeslot webpage (step 610) wherescheduling data may be reentered. In this case, the schedule data maynot be transmitted and stored on the auction system (step 655). Ifprovider does accepts a pending scheduled auction (step 650), then thescheduled auction may be transmitted to the auction system (step 655)and stored in an auction database 140. Provider 105 may again bepresented the show calendar webpage (step 605).

A consumer 100 may initiate the registration process through any methodsknown in the art. In one embodiment, a consumer 100 accesses the auctionsystem 120 and initiates the account setup process (step 700) through aweb browser 110. The account setup process may include determining if aconsumer is a new user or a returning user through any method known inthe art, for example, by the use of cookies, or direct user input. Forexample, a consumer may be presented with a temporary account setupwebpage (step 700), which prompts the consumer 100 to input informationconcerning the consumer's 100 status as either a new or returning user.

According to an embodiment, account manager 165 may define data which isrequired to be entered by consumer 100 during the registration process.For example, an auction system 120 may not allow a consumer 100 tocontinue with the registration process without entering basic consumerinformation such as consumer name, address, telephone number, emailaddress, etc. However, a calendar auction system may allow theregistration process to continue if consumer 100 does not complete abiography of consumer's 100 company, if one exists.

Referring to FIG. 7, if it is determined that consumer 100 is new to acalendar auction system, as discussed above, consumer 100 may bepresented with an account setup (step 700) webpage whereby the accountsetup process may be initiated. If consumer 100 chooses to initiate theaccount setup process, consumer 100 may be presented a webpagecontaining terms (step 705) for participating in a calendar auctionsystem. Further, consumer 100 may be prompted to read the terms andprovide input indicating whether or not consumer 100 accepts the terms.If consumer's 100 input indicates that the terms are not accepted (step710), registration may not be continued and consumer 100 may be againpresented with an account setup (step 700) webpage. However, ifconsumer's 100 input indicates that the terms are accepted (step 710)then consumer 100 may be presented a webpage for which to enter consumerand contact information (step 715). Such information may include, forexample, name, address, telephone number, name of a contact, emailaddress, website, etc. When consumer 100 completes and submits consumerand contact information (step 715), it may be transmitted to the auctionsystem (step 745) where it may be committed to a member database 135.

Consumer 100 may then be presented a webpage to enter biographicinformation (step 720) which may include, a short history of Consumer100 company, a description of the management team, client list, stocksymbol, balance sheet data, credit rating, etc. Upon submittingbiographic information (step 720), it may be transmitted to the auctionsystem (step 745) where it may be committed to a member database 135.

Consumer 100 may then be presented a webpage where Consumer 100 may beprompted to choose a user ID and/or password (step 725). The user IDand/or password may be used by the auction system 120 to verify Consumer100 identification prior to participation in a calendar auction system.Consumer 100 may submit a username and/or password selection to auctionsystem (step 745) where it may be verified (step 730). If a user IDand/or password is not verified (step 735), consumer 100 may again bepresented a choose user ID/password webpage (step 725) where consumer100 may select a different user ID and/or password. If a user ID and/orpassword are valid (step 735) then consumer 100 may be presented aconsumer home webpage (step 740).

Referring now to FIG. 8, a consumer homepage (step 800) may presentconsumer 100 with a variety of information relating to a calendarauction system. For example, in various embodiments, consumer homepage(step 800) may present consumer 100 with general auction statistics ornews relating to consumer's 100 hometown or industry that might be ofinterest to consumer 100.

In an exemplary embodiment, a management process may provide for acentral location where consumer 100 may manage aspects of a calendarauction account. A consumer 100 may access a consumer homepage (step800). If consumer 100 chooses to view and/or modify consumer option(step 820), consumer 100 may be prompted to enter a user ID and/orpassword (step 805). Once the user ID and/or password is entered, it maybe transmitted to the auction system (step 835) to be authenticated. Ifconsumer 100 is properly authenticated (step 815), consumer 100 may begranted access to a consumer options webpage (step 820). A consumer 100who is not properly authenticated, either through user error or becauseof unauthorized use, is not permitted to further access to consumeroptions (step 820) and may be again prompted (step 805) to enter a userID and/or password. Practitioners will appreciate that many additionalsecurity measures may be employed in accordance with the login andauthentication systems and methods described herein. A consumer optionswebpage (step 820) may contain links directed toward managing variousaspects of consumer's 100 calendar auction account. Calendar auctionoptions which may be viewed and/or modified by consumer 100 may include,account management (step 825) and calendar management (step 830).

An account management webpage (step 825) may be accessed by consumer 100to add and/or modify consumer specific information as submitted duringthe registration steps as illustrated in FIG. 7. Specifically, consumer100 may add and/or modify consumer, company and contact information asentered (715 in FIG. 7). Such information may include consumer name,company name, contact name, street address, telephone number, emailaddress, web site, and the like. Account management (step 825) may alsobe used to add and/or modify consumer's 100 biographical information asentered (720 in FIG. 7). The account management process will bedescribed in greater detail below with a discussion of FIG. 9.

A calendar management webpage (step 830) may be accessed by consumer 100to express interest in one or more of provider's 105 service(s).Consumer 100 may access a calendar for any time period as defined by anauction account manager 165. In one embodiment, a consumer 100 mayaccess a calendar for a particular month by selecting a month from alist, however practitioners will appreciate that that various otheroptions may be provided for displaying calendars or elements of time.Calendar management may allow consumer 100, for example, to express aneed for certain professional services at a defined date and time,thereby inviting or encouraging provider 105 to offer such services forauction over the dates and times indicated by consumer 100. FIG. 9 is adetailed illustration of an exemplary account management and calendarmanagement processes as briefly described above in reference to FIG. 8.When consumer 100 with a calendar auction account accesses the calendarauction system, consumer 100 may add or modify calendar auction accountinformation which may have been originally entered during theregistration process (715 in FIG. 7). For example, consumer 100 whowishes to change a main contact name, may initiate a change through anaccount management webpage (step 905). It should be appreciated thatconsumer 100 may be prevented from modifying certain types of accountdata because the modifications may be a function of an account manager165.

In order to define and/or modify account details, consumer 100 mayaccess the account management webpage (step 905) followingauthentication as described above. From an account management webpage(step 905), consumer 100 may choose to view account details (step 910)as previously defined by consumer (715 in FIG. 7) and stored in theauction system (step 955). From an account details webpage (step 910),consumer 100 may be prompted to select a class of account information tomodify (step 915). According to an embodiment, consumer's 100 accountinformation can be grouped within two classes, company and contactinformation and biographical information. It should be appreciated thatthe classes as illustrated and described herein have been grouped forsimplicity. Practitioners will appreciate that the account informationas described herein is not intended to be exhaustive and may be arrangedwithin any number of classes.

If consumer's 100 input from the select details webpage (step 915)indicates a desire to add and/or modify company and/or contactinformation, consumer 100 may be presented a webpage (step 920)displaying company and/or contact information as it exits within anauction server (step 955). Consumer 100 may modify the informationwithin the webpage (step 920) and submit the information along with anychanges to the auction system (step 955) to be stored within a memberdatabase 135.

If consumer's 100 input from the select details webpage (step 915)indicates a desire to add and/or modify biographic information, consumer100 may be presented a webpage (step 925) displaying biographicinformation as it exists within an auction server (step 955). Consumer100 may modify the biographic data within the webpage (step 925) andsubmit the information along with any changes to the auction system(step 955) to be stored within a member database 135.

If consumer's input from the select details webpage (step 915) indicatesa desire to close consumer's 100 calendar auction account, consumer 100may be presented with a webpage (step 930) to confirm consumer's 100intention to no longer participate in a calendar auction system. In anembodiment of the invention, the close account webpage (step 930) mayrequest additional information from a consumer 100 such as, for example,information to as-certain why consumer 100 is closing a calendar auctionaccount. When consumer 100 submits the close account (step 930)information to the auction server (step 955), information pertaining toconsumer 100 may be eliminated from the auction system (step 745)databases.

In one embodiment, a consumer may elect to receive notificationsregarding upcoming auctions which may fall within consumer 100 definedinterests or any other announcements, solicitations, newsletters, andthe like. Further, information regarding consumer's 100 bidding habits,servicing needs, company information, calendar entries, etc. may bedistributed to providers 105 either in the form of reports, as discussedabove, or any other distribution system and/or method. The calendarauction system may provide preferences during account setup and/oraccount maintenance for consumer 100 to opt-in or opt-out fornotifications and/or the distribution of consumer's 100 data.

Referring back to consumer options (step 900), consumer 100 may chooseto set up and manage a calendar. As previously discussed, a calendar maybe provided to enable a consumer 100 to express interest in specificservices for specific date/timeslots. To setup or manage a calendar,consumer 100 may access a calendar management webpage (step 935)following authentication as described above. A calendar managementwebpage (step 935) may include snapshot information relevant to aconsumer such as, for example, a scheduled auction corresponding to oneor more services that consumer 100 previously expressed interest andstatus of in progress auctions.

Further, a calendar management webpage (step 935) may incorporate asearch engine in order to allow consumer 100 to define specific criteriafor auctions and/or providers. For example, a consumer 100 of cleaningservices may be interested in providers 105 who offer cleaning servicesafter 3:00 AM. A consumer 100 may use a search engine interface to entertheir parameters and a search engine may return a list of providers 105and/or auctions matching the criteria. While not illustrated in FIG. 9,practitioners will appreciate that there are a number methods foremploying search engines within an software application or Internetenvironment.

From a calendar management webpage (step 935), consumer 100 may select adate/timeslot for which to view a calendar. When consumer 100 isprovided an auction calendar for the selected date/timeslot (step 940),consumer 100 may select a date and/or timeslot to view in greater detail(step 945). To express interest in a service, consumer 100 may define adesired service in detail (step 950), which may include, for example, adescription of the service, date and time service is needed, duration ofneeded service, and the like. After defining the needed service orredefining a needed service previously entered into the calendar,consumer 100 may submit the calendar to the auction system (step 955)where it may be stored within a member database 135 and made availableto provider's 105 to view within their calendar.

Referring now to FIG. 10, consumer 100 may participate in a calendarauction by navigating to a calendar auction website and selecting a linkto a consumer homepage (step 1015). If consumer 100 is not logged in toa calendar auction system, consumer 100 may be prompted to enter a userID and/or password (step 1000). Once the user ID and/or password isentered, it may be transmitted to the auction system (step 1120) to beauthenticated. If consumer 100 is properly authenticated (step 1005),consumer 100 may be granted access to a consumer homepage 1015.

Consumer 100 may select a link on the consumer homepage (step 1015) toview auctions (step 1020). A view auctions webpage (step 1015) maycontain detailed information for each auction listed. However,practitioners will appreciate that there are a number of ways forviewing information specific to a selected auction including, forexample, a separate webpage or a popup window. Information regarding anauction may include a service description, provider's name, provider'sbiography, a link to provider's website, auction start time, auction endtime, reserve amount, winning bid, number of bidders, and the like.

Consumer 100 may place a bid on an auction item, by selecting an auctionitem for which to enter a bid (step 1025). Consumer 100 may have anoption of purchasing the service outright (if provider 105 chose tooffer a purchase option for the selected offering), or entering a bidamount in excess of the current high bid. Consumer 100 may choose topurchase the service (step 1030), and thus bypass the bidding process,by selecting a “buy it now” link. If consumer 100 chooses to bypass thebidding process, the auction is closed (1100) and no further bids areaccepted. However, if consumer 100 chooses to place a bid on theoffering, consumer 100 may be prompted to enter a bid amount (step1035). When a bid amount is entered and submitted, the bid amount istransmitted to the auction system (step 1120) where it is validated(step 1040) against a previous high bid and a reserve amount if any. Ifa bid amount does not meet both criteria, the bid amount is not valid(step 1045) and consumer 100 may be notified of the deficiency andprompted to enter a bid (step 1035) that is inline with the criteria. Ifconsumer's 100 bid amount is determined to be a valid (step 1045), thebid amount is posted (step 1050) to the auction server (step 1120) whereit is stored in an auction database 140 as a new high bid for theservice item.

The system may require the consumer to previously establish a financialaccount (e.g., charge card or pre-paid cash to an account) or financialarrangement (e.g., credit application) with the system to ensure theavailability of funds, loyalty points, etc used in any bid. As such, thesystem may also confirm that consumer 100 has sufficient funds or creditto support the submitted bid amount. The system may also hold certainfunds during the auction process and release the funds if the consumerdoes not win the bid.

When an auction duration has expired, as previously defined by aprovider 105, the auction may close (step 1100). The auction system(step 1120) may determine which participating consumer 100, if any, wonthe auctioned calendar slot. If a winning bid is validated, the resultsare posted to a calendar auction website (step 1105) and informationrequired by a payment gateway (step 1125) regarding provider 105,consumer 100, and bid amount are transmitted to the payment gateway(step 1125) for processing. Practitioners will appreciate that thereexists a number of payment systems which are known in the art.

Following the posting of auction results (step 1105) and transmittal ofpayment details to a payment gateway (step 1125), notification may besent to both consumer 100 with the winning bid and to provider 105 ofthe service. The system may also notify consumer 100, provider 105,account manager 165 and/or any other third party (via any communicationdevice discussed herein or known in the art) regarding any data, resultsor actions during any phase of the system. For example, the system maynotify provider 105 when each bid is submitted or when a bid above acertain amount is submitted. The system may also automatically calendarthe winning timeslot on each participant's calendar. In one embodiment,the system may also temporarily calendar a timeslot (e.g., with atemporary designation) on one or more participant's calendars after aconsumer submits a bid for a timeslot, but before the winning bid isselected.

In one embodiment, a calendar auction may provide a system and/or methodfor a consumer 100 holding a winning bid to sell the winning bid toanother interested and willing consumer 100. This functionality may beemployed by any number of means, however it is contemplated that aconsumer 100 with a winning bid may have a system and/or method toindicate that they are willing to receive offers on the winning bid.Further, consumer 100 may set a price they are willing to accept for thebid. Another consumer 100 interested in purchasing the bid, may indicatea willingness to do so either through functionality built into acalendar auction system, or contact information may be provided forperson-to-person negotiation. A calendar auction system may also allow aconsumer 100 who has purchased a service through a “buy it now” step, tosell the rights to the service timeslot. A consumer 100 purchasing atimeslot from another consumer 100 may be subject to the sameverification as illustrated in FIG. 4, step 410.

Various other embodiments of the invention may provide features whichmay add to the calendar auction's functionality, utility, and appeal.With respect to content, which may be made available for calendarauction users, a calendar auction system 120 may provide a system and/ormethod for a provider 105 and/or a consumer 100 to upload files to bestored in an auction system 120 database and may include, for example,photos, graphics, .PDF files, sound files and the like. These files maycomprise photo portraits of management teams, company logos, photosrelating to services, white papers, press releases, news articles,recorded statements, etc.

An auction system 120 may provide views of upcoming auctions, pastauctions (including auction descriptions, winning bid details, etc.), awinning bid photo gallery, and the like. Additionally, consumer 100 andprovider 105 may be provided a system and/or method to control webpageviews, appearance, layout, etc. For example, an auction system 120 mayprovide controls which may be used by an auction site user to apply acolor scheme to the calendar auction webpages according to the user'spreference.

An auction system 120 may provide a bid history page where a consumer100 and/or provider 105 may view a bid history for a selected auction.Bid history may include, for example, the identities of top bidders, bidvalues, date and time bids were submitted and the like. A bid historymay provide a view of bids relating only to auctions a consumer 100 orprovider 105 has participated in, or for all auctions occurring over aperiod of time. In addition, a bid history view may be configured by aconsumer 100 and/or provider 105 according to their preferences.

An auction system may include a system and/or method for a consumer 100to rate a provider 105 based on past experience with the provider 105. Arating system may be open to all registered and/or unregisteredconsumers 100 or may be limited to those who have placed a winding bidon a prior calendar auction for the provider's service. A rating systemmay also include a system and/or method for a provider 105 to rateconsumers 100. This may be useful in determining which consumers 100bids provider 105 may accept or decline in current and/or futureauctions.

An auction system 120 may visually group calendar auctions according topredefined categories such as, for example, Accounting Services, LegalServices, Domestic Services, Health Services, Consulting Services, andthe like. Auction groupings may also include indicators to show how manyauctions are in progress or scheduled within each category.Alternatively, calendar auctions may be grouped according to a user'spreferences.

An auction system 120 may provide a system and/or method to enable auser to search an auction system 120 for auctions based on one or moresearch keywords. Additionally, a consumer 100 may search for a provider105 by inputting a nickname or a number which may be uniquely associateda particular provider 105. Practitioners will appreciate that there area number of methods for facilitating and executing a search within anInternet environment which may be implemented within an auction system120.

An auction system 120 may provide users with a system and/or method toobtain online help. Online help may be implemented through one or morefrequently asked questions webpages where a user may view answers tocommonly asked questions. Online help may also include an online formwhere a user may enter problems, questions, suggestions, etc. and submitthe entry to an auction server 120. Answers and/or responses based on auser's submission may be delivered to a user by any means known in theart including email, a webpage, telephone response, postal mail, etc. Anauction system 120 may also employ live help to assist users inreal-time. Live help may provide a means for a user to submit specificquestions, problems and/or concerns to a live customer supportrepresentative and receive a response in real-time. Live help may befacilitated through a chat-like environment similar to those offered myMSN Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger. Live help may also employ computinglogic to decipher information submitted by a user and respond based on apre-defined response which may be stored within an auction system 120.

Additionally, an auction system 120 may notify a consumer 100 ofupcoming auctions which might be of interest. Notification may bedelivered via any method known in the art such as, for example, email,text message to a cell phone or pager, recorded message over atelephone, etc. An auction system 120 may provide a system and/or methodfor consumer 100 to define criteria indicating interest in certain typesof auctions. Additionally, auction system 120 may use consumer's 100prior bid history to determine which auctions consumer 100 may beinterested in.

Benefits, other advantages, and solutions to problems have beendescribed above with regard to specific embodiments. However, thebenefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and any element(s) that maycause any benefit, advantage, or solution to occur or become morepronounced are not to be construed as critical, required, or essentialfeatures or elements of any or all the claims. As used herein, the terms“comprises”, “comprising”, or any other variation thereof, are intendedto cover a nonexclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article,or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include onlythose elements but may include other elements not expressly listed orinherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. Further, noelement described herein is required for the practice of the inventionunless expressly described as “essential” or “critical”.

It should be understood that the detailed description and specificexamples, indicating exemplary embodiments of the present invention, aregiven for purposes of illustration only and not as limitations. Manychanges and modifications within the scope of the instant invention maybe made without departing from the spirit thereof, and the inventionincludes all such modifications. Corresponding structures, materials,acts, and equivalents of all elements in the claims below are intendedto include any structure, material, or acts for performing the functionsin combination with other claim elements as specifically claimed. Thescope of the invention should be determined by the appended claims andtheir legal equivalents, rather than by the examples given above.

1. A method for facilitating a calendar auction between at least oneconsumer and at least one provider, said method including: posting anavailable service, wherein said service includes an available timesloton said provider calendar when said service is offered to be performed;receiving at least one bid for said service, wherein said bid is basedat least in part upon said service and said available timeslot;selecting said bid as a winning bid; and, notifying said consumer andsaid provider of said winning bid.
 2. The method of claim 1, whereinposting an available service further includes posting providerinformation.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein posting an availableservice further includes notifying a consumer of said posting.
 4. Themethod of claim 1, wherein said step of receiving at least one bid forsaid service includes receiving an amount of funds, said funds includingat least one of cash, transaction account, transaction instrument,negotiable instrument, gift card, rebate, securities, loyalty points,and barter.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of posting anavailable service including posting at least one of accounting services,legal services, consulting services, action, non-action, agreements,assistance, guidance, access, advice, physical help, mental help,medical advice, legal input, financial advice, mentoring, counselingservices, internet access, access to computer services, coachingservices, shopping services, entertainment, experiences, and donationservices.
 6. The method of claim 1, further including receiving auctionrules.
 7. The method of claim 1, further including receiving auctionrules including at least one of auction duration, reserve amount,reoccurrence schedule and consumer preferences.
 8. The method of claim1, wherein said step of posting an available service includes receivingavailable service information from a provider.
 9. The method of claim 1,further including notifying at least one of consumer, provider andaccount manager of receiving a bid.
 10. The method of claim 1, furtherincluding notifying at least one of consumer, provider and accountmanager of receiving a bid over a predetermined amount.
 11. The methodof claim 1, further including placing said service in said timeslot onat least one of said consumer and said provider calendar as a temporaryentry until bidding is completed.
 12. The method of claim 1, whereinselecting said bid as a winning bid includes receiving a request from aconsumer to purchase said service for a predetermined price.
 13. Themethod of claim 1, wherein said step of notifying said consumer and saidprovider of said winning bid includes notifying via at least one ofemail, pager, telephone and voice mail.
 14. The method of claim 1,wherein said step of notifying said consumer and said provider of saidwinning bid includes placing said service in said timeslot on at leastone of said consumer and said provider calendar.
 15. The method of claim1, further including awarding loyalty points to at least one of saidprovider and said consumer.
 16. The method of claim 1, further includingreferring said bid to a second provider.
 17. The method of claim 1,further including providing a referral database.
 18. The method of claim1, further including providing service offerings of providers.
 19. Themethod of claim 1, further including providing varying levels ofservice.
 20. The method of claim 1, further including providing reportsto providers, wherein said reports include at least one of serviceinformation, bid information and consumer information.
 21. The method ofclaim 1, further including providing a finder's fee to said provider forreferring a bid to a second provider.
 22. The method of claim 1, furtherincluding providing canceling said calendar auction.
 23. The method ofclaim 1, further including allowing said provider to allow a reoccurringauction for a particular service.
 24. The method of claim 1, whereinposting an available service further includes posting a service whichincludes a flex schedule.
 25. The method of claim 1, further includingnotifying said consumer of certain calendar auctions.
 26. The method ofclaim 1, further including searching said services pursuant to a requestof said consumer.
 27. The method of claim 1, further includingfacilitating redistribution of said winning bid.
 28. The method of claim1, further including providing reports to providers, wherein saidreports include at least one of service information, bid information andconsumer information, wherein said service information, bid informationand consumer information includes at least one of: bids received, amountof bids received, distribution of bids received, identity of bidder,location of bidder, time of bid placement, date of bid placement, andservice pricing.
 29. The method of claim 1, further including providingreports to providers to facilitate at least one of service pricing,marketing plans, cash flow management, business capacity provisioningand resource provisioning.